The concerns about iPhone Air battery life now seem overblown. Apple gave data on how long the new, super-slim handset lasts between recharges, and it’s going to beat most previous iPhones.
While it won’t offer the best battery life ever in an iPhone, the early report that it won‘t last a typical day without needing a recharge turned out to be baloney.
iPhone Air offers longer battery life than most predecessors
iPhones have featured long battery lives for years and years. If yours doesn’t get you through a typical day, there’s a good chance it’s getting old and the battery is worn out, or you’re on your phone way, way too much.
Now think way back to when your iPhone was new. Remember how long it lasted before needing a recharge? iPhone Air probably beats that. Apple says it outlasts most earlier models.
Cupertino doesn’t give exact battery capacities for any of its handsets. But it does promise that the iPhone Air delivers up to 27 hours of video playback on a single charge.
Got an iPhone 15? Apple promised 20 hours of video playback with that model, so the Air goes 35% longer. The iPhone 15 Pro offers 23 hours of video playback, so the Air lasts 17% longer.
Or maybe you’re still carrying an iPhone 14. Apple also says the new iPhone Air will go 35% longer than that model when it was new. And the same is true for the iPhone 14 Pro — the Air will go 17% longer.
True, these are Apple’s own estimates, and while Apple was surely tempted to exaggerate iPhone Air battery life, it undoubtedly felt the same pressure to fudge the numbers on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15. And as someone who’s reviewed Apple products for decades, its estimates of battery life are generally slightly conservative, not wildly optimistic.
Pro Max lasts longer — so what?
Some people reading this are eager to argue that those comparisons deliberately overlook the Pro Max models because they have the longest battery lives of any iPhones. But that misses the point.
Months ago, when early reports of the iPhone Air first began circulating, there were doom-and-gloom predictions that most average users wouldn’t be able to get through a typical day without needing to recharge the ultra-slim handset. Now that the device is here, that’s clearly hogwash.
While Apple certainly offers iPhone models that last longer on a single charge, it’s also sold plenty of previous models with shorter battery lives that millions of users were completely satisfied with.
Battery life is more than battery size
There are more ways to produce a phone with a long battery life than stuffing in a huge battery. When announcing its slim new handset, Apple mentioned “software optimizations” as critical in achieving “fantastic all-day battery life.” That’s a reference to the new Adaptive Power Mode in iOS 26 that is intended to intelligently conserve power by learning the user’s routine to help get them through their day.
Which isn’t to say that Apple didn’t build as large a battery into the iPhone Air as it could without bulking the device up. The innovative internal design puts the processor in the camera hump, leaving more room for battery.
Make a well-informed buying decision
None of this is trying to convince you to buy an iPhone Air. Get whatever model best suits your needs. If you need truckloads of battery, go with the iPhone 17 Pro Max — Apple says that’s good for an insane 39 hours of video playback.
But if you’re interested in the iPhone Air, don’t pass it over because you read somewhere months ago that it’ll require a recharge in the middle of every day. That’s sheer bullplop.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
